


The Wife

by aklaino89



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, One Shot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-01-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:35:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22478005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aklaino89/pseuds/aklaino89
Summary: The rumors of Luke Skywalker having a wife were true, though very few knew who she was. Over many years, the two of them drew closer together, until their world fell apart.
Relationships: Mara Jade/Luke Skywalker
Kudos: 15





	The Wife

She remembered how the first time she met him, she hated him. It was five years after Endor, when, despite the Galactic Concordance being in full swing, Thrawn had returned from the Unknown Regions, attempting to reinstate the Empire. She had captured Luke successfully, but over time, they were forced to work together, eventually culminating in a battle with a cloned Jedi Master on Wayland.

After that, they continued to work together, despite her not wanting to at first. In her eyes, he was the one who killed her father figure, the Emperor, though she started to realize what a monster he really was. Still, they had a mutual respect. Whenever she chanced upon ancient Jedi artifacts, she would notify him at first, but soon she found herself buying them and giving them to him but asking for nothing in return.

Then there was that time they met about ten years after Endor. She had an old data-disk, written in what looked like Old High Galactic that she couldn’t decipher. She had bought it at a black market on the Outer Rim world of Anoat after chancing upon an advertisement for it on a local Holonet Bulletin Board. After buying it for an exorbitant sum, she let Luke know, and they offered to meet up on nearby Bespin.

When they met in the spaceport, he greeted her with a smile.

“Hello, Luke,” she said, smiling as well, holding out the data-disk. “Here’s that disk I was telling you about.”

“Thanks,” he replied, taking it and handing her a credit chit. “Did you want to grab something to eat somewhere?” he offered.

That question took her by surprise. In a way, it almost felt as if he had asked her out on a date, but Jedi were supposed to be celibate.

“Sure,” she answered. “Do you know of any good restaurants here?”

He smiled. “A friend of mine used to be an administrator here and he recommended one,” Luke replied. “It’s kind of nice to come here without worrying about the Empire.”

Mara nodded. The Empire was but a memory, other than a few holdovers run by stubborn Moffs or Admirals who refused to submit to New Republic rule. “Just lead the way,” she said.

What followed was a wonderful night eating exotic food from the Corporate Sector. They enjoyed talking to each other. Mara told Luke about the trade deals she made throughout the Outer Rim and Luke mentioned the pair of students he took on.

“So, how’s your nephew? What’s his name? Jacen?” she asked.

“Ben. He’s doing great. He’s got such Force potential,” Luke replied. “Jacen’s Hera Syndulla’s kid.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Mara responded. “I don’t know why I get those two mixed up. They don’t look anything alike either.”

“But Jacen does have good Force potential,” Luke said. “Maybe I’ll have him on board as a student sometime too.”

Mara smiled. “So, keep in touch with Corran?”

“He’s been busy helping the New Republic Navy stop pirates in the periphery,” Luke said between bites. “He’s been going over some Jedi training holos I sent him, but he hasn’t had the time to fully dedicate himself to being a Jedi. Between his wife and kids, I doubt he’ll have much time for years.”

Mara nodded.

“What about you? Ever think of helping me start up the order again?” Luke asked.

Mara shrugged. “Maybe someday.”

“In the meantime, you can continue helping me find more of those artifacts,” Luke told her, a smile on his face.

She smiled back. “That would be great.” She took another sip of wine. Luke abstained from alcohol, so he had a simple Corellian Soda instead.

Their contacts continued, until they found themselves repeatedly sending letters to each other. Then, all the sudden, Luke stopped responding. Mara wondered why. She found another artifact, an ancient holoprojector from the time of the Great Hyperspace War five thousand years earlier, so she let him know and they rendezvoused.

She waited in a diner near the spaceport on Kashyyyk, watching as a diverse array of alien species, mostly Wookies, wandered the place. The city was filled with trees far taller than the ones found on most worlds, but the locals found a way to balance advanced technology and care for the environment. She finally saw a familiar figure in a hood walk in the diner. Luke took off the hood as he walked in, revealing a beard he hadn’t had before.

“Sorry, I don’t have a lot of time,” he said, putting a chit on the table. Mara didn’t know why, since she hadn’t asked anything in return for artifacts for a long time.

“How have you been?” she asked.

“Busy,” he replied, still standing.

“Hopefully not too busy to have a cup of caf,” Mara said.

“I’m sorry, it’s just…” He trailed off, filling the air with unease.  
“What’s wrong?” Mara asked, concern on her face.

Luke finally sat down across from her. “I found something out about the Jedi,” he explained. “I guess they didn’t allow attachments.”

Mara had heard about such things. It did confuse her earlier that he didn’t seem celibate like the rumors stated. She nodded. “Do you have to do things exactly like the old order?” she asked.

He paused for a second. That beard was a little distracting, but she kind of liked it.

“No, I guess not. Every so often, I get these doubts in my head.” He took in a deep breath. “You know, when the old order fell, they had let a Sith Lord come to power by accident under their noses.”

“Everybody makes mistakes,” she told him. “That doesn’t mean the order wasn’t a force for good.”

She had lost her attachment to Palpatine by that point, seeing him for the monster that he was. The time in service to him was another life by then.

“Thanks.”

“And please don’t tell me that the ‘no attachments’ rule means we can’t be friends,” she told him.

“I’m sorry, it’s just…” He trailed off a little. It was at that time she noticed a tear trail down his cheek. “I guess a part of me wanted more.”

She gasped. Over the years they worked together, Mara had come to see Luke as a close business associate and confidant. To think he had feelings for her…

She took in a deep breath, feeling her heartbeat rise. “Luke, it’s alright.”

He smiled.

“How are your students?” she asked him, trying to change the subject.

“Great,” Luke said in reply. “My nephew Ben just joined up. He’s got a lot of potential.”

Mara smiled. “That’s great. Maybe someday I’ll come and visit.”

Luke paused uneasily. “I’m sorry about before.”

“Don’t be,” Mara said. “We all have people we’re attracted to.”

He nodded. “I know.” Mara felt her hand reach over to that face of his, feeling his beard.

“It looks good on you,” she commented, almost without thinking.

“Thanks,” he responded. “Maybe next time…”

Mara looked him in the eyes. It was at that moment she knew her feelings for him were mutual. They weren’t trapped in a cave with a force bond. There wasn’t an Imperial plot to get him killed, but she felt it.

“Are you sure you can’t… we can’t?” she asked.

He put his fingers through her red hair, looked into her green eyes. It was such a rare color combination, probably the rarest among baseline humans.

“At one time, the Jedi did marry,” Luke said. “Then there’s Kanan Jarrus, who had a lover and a child.”

Mara nodded. “Maybe there’s nothing wrong with Jedi marrying.”

Luke smirked. “I know they stopped allowing it so Jedi could focus on the order more and not worry about their families being targeted.”

“Well, who would have to know?” Mara asked, a thin smile coming across her face.

Luke nodded. It was true. He was a well-known person across the galaxy, not just for being the first of the new Jedi, but also for his time fighting the Empire in the Galactic Civil War. Still, the press didn’t follow him that much and had no idea where he was at any given time. There’s also how his sister was a senator, but again, no one cared too much other than some conspiracy theorists.

The letters started up again after that and got to be more frequent. Most of the time, they were out of range of sending holographic videos across the Holonet, but they made do with text. She continued making contacts and trade agreements across the galaxy and even beyond it when she made a trip to Firefist to trade with the elusive Nagai, but they made time for each other as much as they could.

Luke now had several students and couldn’t stop training them quite so often, but Mara made her way to the planet his new academy was on, giving him her latest relics for free.

One time stood out in her mind more than others, though. Upon landing the Jade Shadow between Luke’s old X-Wing and a Kappa-class shuttle used for travel with multiple students, she was greeted by Ben. He was a tall, gangly young man at that point, his dark hair somewhat long. Next to him was R2-D2.

“Mistress Jade, what a surprise,” the young man greeted. He was wearing a traditional robe, though his was a bit darker in color. She didn’t know what to think of him, if she were honest with herself. Something about him just seemed kind of… off.

“Hello, Ben,” she greeted. “Is your uncle available?”

“Yes, he’s just tutoring a student one on one,” Ben said, a bit of unease in his voice. She sensed something from him with the Force. _Was that jealousy?_

No one knew she was Force-sensitive among the students, just that she was that female friend that came with supplies and the occasional relic. She was quite sure some of the students suspected her relationship with Luke, though apparently he decided not to preach celibacy to his new class of Jedi.

She walked into the hallway as she came across Luke’s office, which had an open door where he was training a female Rodian student with a lightsaber. “Good, you’re getting better at deflecting those blasts.”

The girl had on a helmet with a blinder and there was a remote droid above her, occasionally shooting off very weak stun blasts. Luke looked over at her and smiled. She returned it.

After a few minutes, he was finished. “So, what do you have for me?” he asked, after the student left.

“Some more food and supplies. Oh, and this,” she handed him a small cube.

“A holocron,” he said, his eyes lighting up. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

He reached into his pocket. The Jedi Master always seemed to insist on paying, though Mara always refused. It was coming out of her account these days. However, he pulled something else out: a small black box.

“Will you marry me?” he asked, opening it to reveal a metal ring.

“Yes,” she said quietly. She glanced behind and saw that the door was closed.

The ceremony was small and simple. Luke had to sneak offworld for a couple of days before heading back to his academy, but they made it work. It was just the two of them before a justice of the peace, but it was still valid. They still didn’t publicize it, but Luke at least made sure his sister and brother-in-law knew as well as his nephew. After that, it became a sort of open secret among the students.

Still, it wasn’t too much different from before. She was still busy with her trade contracts and helping Talon Karrde organize his organization, but it was nice. She had someone she could look forward to visiting from time to time. Occasionally, she even spent a bit longer at Luke’s academy and helped at the grounds. It was at that time that she would go over the books at Luke’s disposal, glancing through the contents and even trying out a bit with the lightsaber. She had some training with it, having been an Emperor’s hand, but she was far from a master and she was grossly out of practice.

There were times when she considered settling down, but she knew she would never be able to sit still. However, she did do a little bit of training under Luke and got to know his students individually. The Jedi way started to become a sort of hobby for her and she would find herself doing a few minutes of study a day to calm herself. Lightsaber training on the Jade Shadow even became a bit of a way of blowing off steam.

Though she didn’t spend every day with Luke, they made sure to make their time count. True, he was often very busy with his students, training them and helping them grow, but after that, they spent as much time as possible together. They were happy and it seemed everything was going to be okay.

But it wasn’t to last.

She was on Bonadan, securing a trade agreement with a member of the Corporate Sector when she started to feel sick. She didn’t think anything of it, but she managed a lucrative deal anyway. When she got back to her ship, she found a message waiting for her from Luke. She eagerly opened it.

Its contents made her heart drop.

“Mara, I…” he was clearly distraught. “If you got this message, please, stay away. My… One of my students has turned. The academy is in ruins and I barely escaped with my life. The two other instructors are dead, and my younger students are missing.”

 _Oh no,_ she thought with widened eyes.

“It’s not safe for you. If… if he finds you, he will try to kill you. Find yourself a place to hide. Protect yourself. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Luke…” she said, tears going down her face. _What happened?_

One of his students turned. Could it have been their nephew? He was a fine young man, but always had that edge to him. She knew from a talk with Leia that he had some behavioral issues before being sent to train with Luke.

She immediately felt sick again.

Despite the danger though, she had to find Luke. Unfortunately, just as she entered the system where his academy had been, carefully exiting hyperspace millions of kilometers away from the idyllic world, she came across a frightening sight. Sensors showed that the Jedi temple was in ruins, embers glowing after something had destroyed it.

It was at this time she immediately jumped to hyperspace, knowing it would be dangerous to stay. She had already seen that Luke’s X-Wing wasn’t even on the planet anymore.

She broke down right then and there.

She made her way to Terminus before stopping again, knowing nothing would be the same. She felt absolutely numb at the realization of what had happened. Her husband was who-knew-where and she wouldn’t be able to see him again without putting them both at risk. At the same time, she knew her nephew would probably hunt her down as well to get to him. Despite no confirmation, she knew he was the one who had turned.

She cried. At the same time, she had to remind herself she was strong and would make her way through that, just as she had gotten through the Emperor’s death many years before. She made sure she ate as much as she could handle, even though she had very little appetite. She tried to make herself sleep, even if it required a sedative.

Life had brought great blessings, and yet there she had them taken away. Deep down, she knew it wouldn’t last.

Still, she loved her husband, even if she couldn’t see him again, at least for the time being. His being gone from her life left a void, an emptiness. She felt like a widow, even though she was still alive.

However, she refused to let that stop her from living and she didn’t drown herself in alcohol to escape it either. At the same time, she did consider it. However, whenever she even thought about hitting the Corellian Ale, she just felt sick to her stomach. She had no idea why.

She made sure to take her time, letting Talon Karrde know she was going to take a sabbatical. She kept feeling sick after waking up, though. At first, she attributed it to grieving, but there was something off about it. One morning, after throwing up, she made her way to the medical bay, giving herself a full body scan. What she found was surprising.

“I’m pregnant…” she muttered, looking at the results and placing her hand on her stomach. She had missed her period that month, though at her age, many women started going through menopause unless they could afford the proper hormonal cocktail to prevent it. There were many longevity treatments available to the rich that the lower classes either didn’t know or care about. She had considered taking some, though only went as far as using a few treatments to preserve her beauty.

Tears were streaming down her face at the sight of the monitor. She saw the child within and realized it would never know its father. _Never say never,_ she thought.

Maybe one day her nephew would be defeated and she would be able to show the child to Luke. She glanced at the screen and saw a few red flags come up. There were some genetic anomalies due to both her and her husband’s age, but nothing that couldn’t be treated with routine gene sequencing. It could even be done with the ship’s autodoc. She immediately got to work, fixing the child’s genes and removing any ailments that would affect it later in life.

That was when she noticed the chromosomes. XY. A boy.

She had a son with Luke, a baby boy. She would make sure she raised him right.

Now, though, she just had to think of a name. That was when she thought of someone Luke always spoke of fondly, someone who raised him.

“Owen. Owen Skywalker.”

After the initial gene therapy, the pregnancy went smoothly thanks to modern medical technology. She would keep the boy safe. In order to do that, she made her way to Firefist, to the Nagai homeworld. True, she didn’t have much access to the Holonet at that point, but they were safe.

The news from the Galaxy was concerning. Shortly before Ben’s turn, his mother had been outed as the daughter of Darth Vader. After that, she was a pariah and was soon no longer senator. Leia had disappeared from public view after that, causing Mara to wonder what had happened to her and Han. She hoped they were okay.

After Owen’s birth, which was performed by autodoc, more troubling news came from the Galaxy. A new power from the Unknown Regions was making its forays into New Republic space, the First Order. At the same time, the Republic Senate seemed to be dragging their feet about doing anything about them. Things weren’t going well.

They got even worse.

In the meantime, Mara watched her son grow. She made sure he had friends, some were Nagai and others were children at the trading post where she worked. So far, no one from the main Galaxy seemed to know she was there other than Karrde. She made sure she encrypted her messages to him, even though Ben Solo didn’t even know about the man or his connection to her. She had never told him or the other students about her business connections. To them, she was just another trader.

Still, she found work and made efforts to continue directing Karrde’s trade network from Firefist. At one point, Karrde had been contacted by a group calling themselves the Resistance. As soon as Mara found out that Leia, her sister-in-law, was running it, she made sure at least some supplies and funds made it to the organization.

Then, the Galaxy imploded. Hosnian Prime was destroyed from long distance by a First Order superweapon. When Mara saw what had happened, her heart dropped. She wanted justice for the innocent inhabitants of that world. Soon, world after world surrendered to the First Order.

She wanted to help, but she had Owen to look after. Her duty as a mother got in the way of her desire to avenge the Republic. She clenched her fists.

“Mom, what’s wrong?” she heard, turning to see her young son, looking up at her inquisitively. The boy had red hair like his mother but had inherited his father’s eyes. She immediately hugged him.

“Something very bad happened in the Galaxy,” she explained.

“Maybe dad’ll save the day,” the young boy said.

“Maybe,” she told him.

The next few days were hectic. Apparently, the superweapon was destroyed by the Resistance. Then the First Order struck back, almost hunting them down to extinction. Karrde’s organization had received a distress call from Leia while she was on the planet Crait but Mara knew the organization wouldn’t be able to respond in time.

It was then that she knew they would have to do something. “Owen, we’re going back to the Galaxy,” she told her son.

His eyes lit up. The boy had always dreamed of going there, of seeing the numerous worlds around it. Despite having established a life on Nagi, Mara had never truly felt at home there. She missed her husband and wanted to see him again, and so had things set up to leave at a moment’s notice. A few hours later, the two of them were back on the Jade Shadow, taking the long hyperspace route back to the Galaxy.

It was then that Mara felt a pain slice through her. The ship was on autopilot for most of the journey, so it didn’t affect her flying all that much, but she knew something was wrong. “Luke…”

Her husband. Something about him was wrong.

She had a feeling deep within her stomach about him. Somehow, she knew he had died.

She glanced over to her son, seeing the young man sleeping peacefully in a nearby chair. “Owen, I’m so sorry…” she whispered softly.

Still, she sat there, numb. She knew they were going to have to fuel up once they reached the Galaxy after a few days, but until then, it was only her and her son.

But somehow, she knew she would press on.

That was when she saw him, an ephemeral figure glowing blue. He had aged, his hair was long and so was his beard, but Luke was there. She instinctively got up and tried hugging him, even though her arms just went right through him. She had heard of Force Ghosts before, so this wasn’t too much of a surprise. Still, he was there. They were together again, if only briefly.

“Mara,” he said, his hand along her hair.

“Luke,” she replied, a smile across her face, even through the tears that were there.

The man glanced at their son. “We…”

“Yes,” Mara told him. “His name is Owen.”

“Owen…” Luke repeated, sitting down next to the boy. “Thank you for keeping him safe. If I would have known…”

“Luke, it’s alright,” she assured him. “I only found out along the way to a safe place that I was pregnant anyway.”

Luke nodded. “How have you been?”

“Okay, but I really missed having you around,” she told her husband.

Luke nodded. “Things have really changed.”

“What happened?” she asked him.

“I… I distracted the First Order to let the Resistance escaped. It proved to be too much strain for me.”

Mara nodded, understanding. “You did what had to be done.”

Luke nodded. “I wasn’t in a good place these past few years.”

“I understand. Your students either died or were turned,” she said. She put her hand on his and it phased through, but she didn’t mind. At least they were together momentarily.

“It was my nephew,” Luke explained. “He hurt someone while training and when I went to confront him, I made a big mistake and almost acted without thinking. He thought I was about to attack him, so he turned on me.”

Mara paused for a second. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.”

“We all make mistakes. You didn’t go through with whatever you were about to do and that was what counted.”

“I saw a darkness inside him,” Luke explained.

Mara suspected as much. Still, she kept silent for the moment and so did he.

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” Luke said. He then looked at their sleeping son. “He takes after you, you know?”

Mara shook her head. “He has your heart, though, and your eyes.”

Luke smiled and kissed her forehead. Even though she couldn’t feel it, it was a kind gesture. For a moment, everything was alright in the Galaxy.

Maybe one day it would be alright again for everyone else too.

A/N: So, I actually wrote this thing a couple months before Rise of Skywalker came out. I don’t know why I wrote it, other than to give Luke some semblance of happiness and undo a little bit of the Sequel Trilogy’s destruction of his life. I mean, why did it have to end that way for him.

Plus, I wondered how one could go about bringing Mara Jade into canon and having her end up together with him like in Legends. This is one way to go about it. Plus, the ending showed that the Skywalker bloodline could live on somehow, and not by a Palpatine taking his last name.

I’ll also be the first to admit that I’m crap at romance, so sorry if it felt incredibly fake. Hopefully someone out there likes it.

As far as Owen Skywalker’s character is concerned, I have thought about how his future would turn out. He’d probably start out working for his mother before eventually being recruited by the Jedi order. I even started writing a multi-chapter story where he ended up with Kylo Ren’s lightsaber somehow (written before RoS had him chucking it into the sea of Kef Bir, though knowing the character who gave it to him, he would have been able to get it anyway, somehow) and ended up apprenticed under Ezra Bridger’s son.

Not sure if there will be much follow-up to this, though I’ve considered writing more one-shots in the future or even posting a full-fledged multi-chapter fic.


End file.
